U.S. Catholics top list of contributors to Peter's Pence

The Council of Cardinals that studies the Vatican's organizational and economic matters announced this Wednesday that the income generated worldwide by the collection known as the Peter's Pence placed U.S. Catholics way at the top of the list, distantly followed by Italy.

During 2007, the Peter's Pence reported an income of $79,837,843 U.S. dollars; most of which was used for the Pope's charitable initiatives in favor of the poorest countries or regions affected by natural disasters.

The most generous Catholic communities were the U.S. with $18.7 million dollars, followed by Italy at $8.6 million, Germany with $4 million and Spain at $2.7 million.

The Holy See also received an individual contribution from an anonymous donor for $14.3 million dollars.

The most generous bishops’ conference in support of the Holy See was that of the German Bishops, who contributed $9.3 million. The German bishops were followed by the USCCB at $8.3 million and then the Italian Bishops, who gave $5.5 million. Surprisingly, the Bishops of South Korea, where Catholics represent slightly more than 10% of the population, ranked 7th with $681,542 dollars.